Railway signal



R E L U. M Z C RAILWAY S I GNAL Filed March 30, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 3lwcutor aZJ/Zzen C. Z. MILLER RAILWAY SIGNAL May 28, B929.

Filed March 30, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Gttorncgs.

Patented May 28, 1929.

UNITED TES CABLIE Z. MILLER, OF FOR'J; SCOTT, KANSAS.

RAILWAY SIGNAL.

Application mea March ao, 192s. serial No. 266,023.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in railwaysignals.

A11 important object of'the inventionis the provision of a light whichmay be readily installed upon a switch stand to`be .simultaneouslyoperated with the switchthrowing mechanism thereof for the purpose ofautomatically indicating at night time to the engineer of an approachlnglocomotive, the position of the switch rails, whether open or closed,such signals being caused to vfunction entirely by the headlight of thelocomotive, and obviating all necessity for the maintenance ofa speciallight or lightsat the switch stand.

A full and complete understanding of the invention may be obtained froma consideration of the following detailed description, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecification; it being understood that while. the drawings show apractical form of theinvention, the latter is not to be confined tostrict conformity with the showing thereof,

but may be changed or modified, so long as such changes or modificationsmark no material departure from the salient features of the invention asembodied in the appended claims.

In the drawings, in which similar reference characters designatecorresponding parts throughout the several figures;

Figure 1 is a. side elevation of a portion of a switch and switch standhaving the improved signal applied thereto,

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof,

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical section through the signal ami showingthe manner of isecuring the same upon` the switch stand sta Figure 4 isa diagrammatic view showing the effect of the light rays from alocomotive headlight upon one form of the improved signalling device,and

Figure 5 is a similar view illustrating another formof the device.

It is common practice to provide switches and other similar devices withsemaphore signals of some suitable form, said si als usually includingseparate lights to render the same visible at night to enginemen onapproaching locomotives, and as such lights are of either oil; gas orelectric variety, they are more or less unreliable owing to theirliability of becoming extinguished with possible resultant wrecliage andloss of life,

- and they are otherwise objectionable because of their expensiveinstallation and maintenance.

The present invention aims to provide a self-contained device which maybe easily applied in position upon the upstanding. staff of an ordinaryswitch stand, said device comprising a casing adapted to be rotated withthe stand, as the switch is opened or closed, and having meansassociated therewith for reflecting back to the eyes of the engineer orother engineman, rays of light indicating the position of the switch.These rays are caused by the reflection of the rays of light from the.locomotive headlight which are .caught by the improved device when thelocomotive is from two to ve thousand feet distant, and returned in the'form of green rays to indicate to the engineer that the switch is inproper position for safety, or in the form of red rays to warn theengineer of danger, all of such rays being directed in a manner to bereadily seen at this relatively great distance. These desirable resultsare' obtained bythe present device without the use of other than theheadlight of the locomotive, hence resulting in a great saving in themaintenance of railways and a greater element of safety.

To this end, the invention comprises a casing 1 which is formed ofsuitable sheet metal, preferably square in cross section and.constructed to exclude rain, moisture, etc.

The casing includes a reinforced bottom 2 having an upstanding socket 3which is rectangular in cross sectionand tapers toward the upperendthereof to snugly fit the corresponding upper end of the staff 4 of aswitch stand 5, to be turned by' said staff when the switch is operated.

A removable top or cover 6 is adapted to be held on the casing. in anydesired manner and to be readily removed when it is desired to installor to change the reflecting elements to be later described. As a switchswitch is operated, a pair of opposite relectors will always be inlongitu inal alinement with the railway tracks and in position convexreflector 9, thus providing an annu-A lar stop flange 10 abuttingagainst the inner wall of the adjacent side to prevent the conicalsleeve from passing through. The concave side of the eflector isdirected outwardly towards the outer, smaller end of the tube, which isprovided with a terminal, annular groove 11 snugly fitting over theperipheral edge of any suitable form of lens 12, that shown being of a.well-known form having stepped circular areas,- the convex side beingoutermost.

In order to hold the reflecting devices in position within the casing,there is provided a separate strap 13 for each of the same, said strapsbeing bent transversely to Vconform approximately to the rear convexsides of the reflectors 9, against which they are rigidly held by upperand lower tstening screws 14 which are threaded through the adjacentside walls of the casing and serve to hold the reflecting devices intheir positions in said sides. By this construction, it will be seenthat upon removal of the top or cover 6, any one or more of thereflecting devices or units may be readily removed and new onesinstalled when necessary.

The diametrically opposite lenses 12 are adapted to be of the samecolor, such as red to indicate danger, while the other pair of oppositelenses may be green to indicate sa ety, though, of course, any othercolors may be employed, and it is to be understood that the casing is,mounted 0n the staff 4 of the switch stand in a manner to properlyposition the red lenses so as to be seen up and down the tracks when theswitch is in danger position, while the green lenses, vsignifyingsafety, will beso located when the switch is thrown to safety positionas to notify the engineerI of the vbncoming train or locomotive that theswitch isy in safety position.

In Figure 4 there is shown a diagrann matic view illustrating the actionof the lightrays A emanating from a locomotive headlight B which may beconsidered 'as being several thousand feet removed from the lens 12. Therays A are shown as in diverging relation and strike 'the lens atdifferent ang-les and are projected therethrough along parallel lines,as at C, `to the concave side of the reflector 9, which may be providedwith a highly polished or nickeled surface or which may consist of aglass mirror of proper form. The said rays are then returned alongangular lines D, within the tube 8, passing/ through the lens, by meansof which the rays are thence colored and directed along the lines Etowards the approaching locomotive. The lines E, indicated in dottedlines in Fig. 4 of the drawing, represent the warning rays and theyradiate approximately from the center of the arc of the lens 12, so thatthey will be readily seen fromeither side of the locomotive even thoughthe switch stand is located at o ne side of the track, which is'thenecessary location of the same.

In Fig. 5 of the drawing, there is shown another similar diagram inwhich a slightly modified form of reflector is shown. Herein the tube 8ais of a form similar to the aforesaid tube 8, but the small end of thesame is Jformed to receive and hold a rel-.

atively small reflector 9a, while the lens 12a is correspondingly largerthan the lens 12. With the use'of the latter form of reflector, thereturning rays E diverge to a greater degree, though the effect issubstantially the same.

By the employment of the reflecting means shown and described, it hasbeen demon strated by practical use that a uniform dispersion of returnrays will be given in both lateral and vertical planes and that a largebeam of light of appropriate color will be reliected back in thedirection of the approaching locomotive. It has been furtherdemonstrated that these signals are visible at a great distance and thatthey may be seen substantially as Well in daylight as at night.

It is of course to be understood that the details of structure andarrangements of parts maybe variously changed and modified withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim: y 1. In a railway signal, the combination of a switch standhaving a rotatable staff; a casing mounted on the staff; pairs ofopposite reflecting units mounted on the casing, each unit comprising areflector having a concave outer face and a concavo-convex lens inadvance thereof with the concave side toward the reflector to diffuserays of reilected light of different colors from the different pairs.

2. In a railwa signal, the combination of a switch stand aving arotatable staff; a casing mounted on the stali'; pairs of oppositereflecting units mounted on the casing, each unit comprising areflectorhaving a concave outer face and a concavo-convex lens in advance thereofwith the concave side toward the reflector, the lenses of each pair ofopposite units being alike in color and different from the color of theother pair, to diffuse different colors of reflected light.

3. In a railway signal, the combination of a switch stand having astaff, and a casing 'mounted on the staff; said casing having oppositepairs of light refiecting units mounted thereon; each unit comprising aconical tube extending laterally from the casing, a reflector mounted onthe inner end of the tube and within the casing and having an outerconcave reflecting face, and a concavo-convex lens mounted on the outerend of the tube with the concave side toward the reflector to diffusethe rays of reflected light from the reflector and inner face of thetube.

4. In a railway signalling device, the combination ofa switch standhaving a staff and a casing mounted on the staff; said casing havingopposite pairs of openings; a reflecting unit adapted to be seated ineach opening; each unit comprising a conical tube to fit the opening atits larger end and having a stop flange abutting the inner face of thecasing; a concavo-convex reflector mounted in the inner, larger end ofthe tube; an arcuate clamping plate fitting the inner face of thereflector; screws for tightening the plate to hold the stop ange againstthe casing; and a concavo-convex colored lens held within the outer,smaller end of the tube to diffuse rays of light reflected from theheadlight of a locomotive and return same in color. l

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

CHARLIE Z. MILLER.

